Friday, November 26, 2010

One vacancy down, one to go

One of our two vacant apartments was rented today. We have repainted and done some minor repairs, all of which were overdue, for a total cost of less than half a month's rent. We have also agreed to remove some of the loose furniture not wanted by the incoming tenant. Anything we can't sell before the tenant moves in will be donated to a local charity.

While the six week vacancy was longer than I had hoped we did manage to avoid having the property vacant over the Christmas-New Year period when it is traditionally hard to find tenants.

The really good news is that we secured a 22.6% increase in the monthly rent - a very meaningful increase that will provide a nice boost to the monthly cash flow. Even with one vacancy, we will now be back to a positive monthly cash flow. Given that the biggest outgoing every month is the principal component on the mortgage payments, the properties are providing a nice addition to our net worth each month.

I am less optimistic about the other vacant unit (which has been on the market since 1 November) rented before Christmas.